Daily Express Subscriber
Sign in to your account.

Kota Kinabalu: With Sabah’s cases soaring to 1,205 on Saturday from 909 the day earlier, Sabah’s Covid-19 spokesperson Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun has forewarned that cases will continue to rise.

He said sporadic infections are high, with 43.7 per cent of cases (527) being symptomatic, indicating the virus is already widespread in the community with a high infectivity rate. “Cases have tripled in just three days. It is forecasted that the caseload will continue to spike in the near future. Expect cases to rise further. It will get worse before it gets better,” he said in a statement, Saturday. He added that four deaths were recorded, one each in Kota Kinabalu, Kota Belud, Sandakan and Tawau. Masidi said a new community cluster was identified in Beaufort, named as the Kg Weston Cluster, which was sparked by a marriage ceremony attended by families from Kg Lubok and Kg Menengah, Weston. “The index case is a 66-year-old male who was tested positive via a PCR test on Feb 3 at the Penampang Health Clinic. He had fever, cough and body ache symptoms since Jan 30,” he said, adding that he had infected three same-household members. Masidi said the index case had a history of attending the wedding ceremony on Jan 29 and 30. “The tally of cases in this cluster is 27 so far. All patients have been isolated and given further treatment,” he said. On the caseload, Masidi said four districts recorded three-digit figures, namely Sandakan (230), Kota Kinabalu (213), Penampang (113) and Tuaran (113). “Some 13 districts recorded a significant rise with double-digit figures, namely Papar (84), Kota Marudu (74), Beaufort (62), Ranau (55), Lahad Datu (53), Tawau (52) and Kota Belud (33). “Only Kalabakan did not record any new cases,” he said. He said a majority of cases are mild, with 1,198 out of 1,205 being category one and two infections. Three cases are in category three, one in category four and three in category five. Meanwhile, Masidi said the State Government has started rolling out vaccinations to children aged five to 11 on Feb 3, with some 30 children pioneering the new vaccination programme. “Two doses will be administered to children within an interval of eight weeks. The dose for children is 10 Mcg which is one-third of the adult dose,” he explained. He said 2,818 individuals were vaccinated on Feb 4, of which 2,583 were adults while 54 were teenagers and 181 were children. As of Feb 4, he said a total of 2,410,687 individuals have completed both doses, of which 76.05 per cent were adults, while 2,454,764 have gotten their first dose, of which 76.75 per cent were adults. Masidi added that a total of 337,369 teenagers have received their first dose, while 313,015 have completed both doses, which is 72.12 per cent of the teenage population. A total of 211 children have received their first dose.